Arrangement for directing packages of evenly collapsed type at the entrance to packaging machines



Dec. 26, 1961 o. v. CHRISTENSSON 3,014,414

ARRANGEMENT FOR DIRECTING PACKAGES OF EVENLY COLLAPSED TYPE AT THE ENTRANCE TO PACKAGING MACHINES Flled Nov 15, 1959 5 INVENTOR 00 l lA fll? Off/SW1 BY J 3 w ATTORNEYS ga s ARRANGEMENT FQR DEREQTHNG PACKAGES F EVENLY COLLAPSED TYPE AT Tim ENTRANtIE T9 PACKAGHNG MAQHINES 0d Vikar Christensson, Vikavagen 5, Broinrna, Sweden Filed Nov. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 852,648 (Ilailns priority, application Sweden Mar. 19, 1959 16' Claims. (Cl. %-36) Within the part of the industry, concerned with the production of consumption materials such as food stuifs, cleaning means and so on, one has to a continuously increased degree turned over to pack the material in specific sales packages. To a great extent these consisted in an outer package made of cardboard and of a form rectangular in cross-section, provided with a lining, which is closed in a tightening way.- It has especially occurred that one has made the lining of an airtight material, which has been possible to heat-seal or Weld, for instance certain kinds of plastics in the form of thin foils. By means of such plastic-lined packages one has been able, in a satisfactory way, to vacuum-seal such food studs, which could not without risk of being damaged sulfer the oxygen of the outer atmosphere, and further such food stuffs, which are sensitive to evaporation of for instance certain highly aromatic constituents, because such constituents, as a rule, are formed by light oils, and further food stuffs, which are intended to be deep frozen, but which should before this be stored in a liquid decoction.

The packaging technics has been rationalized to the purpose of packages of the said kinds now being mainly exclusively delivered to the producers of the food stuffs in ready state in order to be introduced by the producers of the food stuffs into full automatic packing machines, in which they are filled with the material to be packed and thereafter are closed.

In order that the packages should consume the least possible space, when they are stored or transported, re-' spectively, and in order that they shall be protected in the best possible way against damages, they are at the delivery from the manufacturer of the packages to the producer of the food stuffs piled in rows of collapsed packages. In their folded-up state the packages are, as mentioned above, rectangular in cross-section, and it is therefore possible to re-size them so that a broad side and an adjacent narrow side are in the same level, whereas the remaining two sides are also in mutually the same level, and the two levels are tightly pressed against each other.

The development has turned to the use of looser and less resisting material as far as regards change of form. To this contributed in the first place the fact that the plastic materials suitable for heat-sealing, which may be used as lining material, are throughout of a very loose and to its form easily changeable material. In order that a sure sealing of the mouth of the lining shall be possible, it is further necessary that the lining in the collapsed package extends outside of the closing flaps of cardboard, combined by means of creasing lines fromthe package sides of the outer package. This has caused a difiiculty, which has hitherto been regarded as unavoidable and which acted to a high degree disturbing for the feeding of the packages into the machines, which had to take care of folding-out of the package from the collapsed state to V the form rectangular in cross-section, the closing of the package in its bottom, the filling thereof with the product to be packed and the closing at the top, following thereafter. By the unavoidable pushes and the like, occurring during transportation from the manufacturer of the packages to the producer of the food stuffs one cannot avoid that the packages in one end the same row are displaced relatively to each other. It is easy to correct such dis- 3,914,414 Patented Dec. 2%, 1961 placements in the cross direction, because one has only to push the packages in common against the creasing edge, combining one broad side, situated in the collapsed state on one side, and the narrow side, placed on the other side. But his on the contrary practically impossible, due to the weak nature of the lining, to correct displacements in the future vertical direction of the packages, because such displacements would only cause the lining of one package to extend somewhat further out than the lining of an adjacent package. Pushing will thereby be without any effect, because the lining is so weak that it has not the property of being able to transfer the push to the parts of the outer package made of cardboard, and if one should execute this pushing with still more force in order to overcome this difficulty, then the lining would too easily be damaged or deformed, so that it would thereafter not allow to be extended to the form, rectangular in cross-section.

On the other side most machines for the above stated purposes require that the packages are introduced into them in an exactly corrected position without such displacements as mentioned above.

The present invention refers to an arrangement for directing the packages of evenly collapsed type when feeding them into packaging machines, for instance of the kind mentioned above as to its main features.

According to the invention the machine contains means for clamping the closing flaps existing at one end of the package in such a way that these may certainly perform the following description in connection with the attached drawings, which show one chosen form of execution of the invention, but it is understood that the invention is not limited to the form of execution thus described and shown, and that different modifications may occur within the frame of the invention. in the drawings FIG. 1

thereby shows in perspective an evenly collapsed package, which shall be directedby means of an arrange ment according to the invention in order to be fed to a packaging machine, Whereas FIG. 2, in order to explain the general kind of the package, shows the same package in its folded-up state, whereby this is closed in its bottom in order to stabilize it. FIG. 3, finally shows an arrangement according to the invention in schematic form.

The evenly collapsed package is thus shown in FIG. 1. In this figure one will see one broad side 10 and one narrow side 11, whereas the opposite broad side and narrow side are hidden. At each end of each side closing flaps are provided. Thus, the broad side 10 is at its upper end provided with the closing flap 12 and at its lower end with the closing flap 13, and in a corresponding way the narrow side 11 is provided with the closing flaps 14 and 15. A hose-formed, flattened lining 13' of transparent plastic is arranged in the interior of the package, so that it extends at each end with a sufficiently big part in order to make welding closing of the lining possible, independent of the closing of the outer package. The lining is provided from an even piece of plastic, which has been given its hose form by a longitudinal weld connection 15'.

In FIG. 2 the same package is shown, after it has first been folded up into a form rectangular in cross-section and thereafter the lining has first been closed in the bottom and thereafter the closing flaps have been folded together and pasted to each other. One will then also 3 see the upper closing flaps 16 and 18, which are connected to the sides 17 and 19, visible in FIG. 2 only from the inner side. 7

The packages are delivered from the manufacturer of the packages to the producer of the food stuffs to be packed in the packages, collapsed in a way shown in FIG. 1, and piled in rows of packages, placed on each other and placed in the same direction. Along the sides 20 and 21, respectively, limited by fixed creasing lines on the outer packages, it is easy to direct the packages to an accurate line, but this is not the case along the mouths of the linings 22 and 23, respectively. These linings are, as a matter of fact, utterly Weak and plastic, and the consequence will be that it cannot be avoided that during transportation and other handling the packages may displace themselves more or less in relation to the adjacent packages in the direction of the arrows 24. Thereafter there is a risk for wrong closing, when the packages are fed into the machine in this displaced position. Such displacements in the direction of the arrows 24 shall now be corrected by the arrangement according to the present invention.

in FIG. 3 a row of packages 39 is shown, guided by means of a couple of rails 31 and 32, respectively. The lowermost package in the row 30 is fed forward between the wheel 33 and an auxiliary wheel 34 at each turn of the wheel 33 and in the direction of the arrow 35. Such a fed-forward package is shown for instance at 36. The feeding of the package takes place over a running chain path 37 with catchers 38 applied at even spaces. In the row 30 the packages are so directed that they rest with their creasing lines 20, 21, see FIG. 1, on the rails 31 and 32, respectively. Consequently, the mouths made of weak lining material are turned in the direction out from the level of the paper, partly forwards, partly also backwards. And if some displacement of a package has taken place, this displacement has occurred in a direction perpendicular to the level of the paper in FIG. 3.

Before the chain path 37 two bands 40, 41 are now arranged to move with the same longitudinal speed as the chain path 37. The bands are arranged to rotate as endless bands around one pair of rollers 42 and 43 as well as 44 and 45, each, respectively, with such a direction of rotation that the two branches of the bands 40 and 41, turned on to each other, are moving in the same direction. The driving force is suitably transferred to the hands by the roller 42 being provided on the same shaft as the feeder roller in the chain conveyor 37, where- .as this shaft is, by means of a cog gearing, not shown in the drawing, connected to the roller 44.

-It will be evident from this that when the packages are delivered at the end of the chain conveyor 37, situated to the left in the drawing, then they will be caught between the two bands 40 and 41 and brought forward in this slot, as indicated by means of the packages 46 and 47. The bands 40, 41, however, are placed in relation to the remaining band conveyor in such a way that these bands catch only theforwardly turned closing flaps 13 and 15, see FIG. 1, as well as the corresponding closing flaps, situated behind and not visible in FIG. 1, and the lining extending outside of the closing flaps, the mouth of which is indicated by 22.

The proper package sides would consequently be without any support, if there had not been provided behind the arrangement of the bands 40, 41 a second hand cons ductor 48, which moves over two rollers, the shafts of which are situated in levels, parallel to the level of the paper in FIG. 3, but inclined about 15 against the horizontal level. The caught roller 49 is thereby arranged substantially below the level, in which the packages 46, 47 move, whereas the feeder roller 50 is arranged at some distance above this level. The position on the band 48 is such that this band will catch the sides of the package 46 and raise them up to a position perpendicular to the ,closing flaps, clamped between the bands 40 and 41.

Further the band 48 is applied in such a way that the sides of the package are displaced a little forwardly out of the level of the paper in FIG. 3. As the creasing line between the closing flaps and the proper sides on the packages may be assumed to be placed a little behind the level, in Which the foremost branch of the band 48 is moving, it is evident that simultaneously as the packages are displaced to the left in the slot between the bands 46 and 41, they will be displaced an unessential distance forwardly out of the level of the picture, until all of the packages have been directed in such a way that the sides are in one single level, resting on the band 48, simultaneously as the foremost closing flaps are in one single level, perpendicular to the first mentioned one and determined by the slot between the bands 40 and 41. The packages have thus been directed into identically equal positions during their passage through the described arrangement, and they are delivered out from the same with the proper package sides vertical, but with the closing flaps, which are now the lower ones, bent into the horizontal level between the bands 40 and 41.

The packages may, however, during their passage between the hands 4t) and 41 have slipped a little, and it is therefore no longer sure that they are situated exactly at the mutual distances, determined by the catchers 38 of the chain conveyor 37. Simultaneously with the closing flaps being folded back into the vertical level, in which the remaining parts of the package are situated, therefore the mutual distance between packages following after each other through the machine shall be restored.

This takes place by means of a combination of one further chain conveyor and one arrangement of direction bands, placed to the left of the hitherto described means in the drawing FIGURE 3. For gaining a more clear view, only the back band 55 of the two cooperating bands has, however, been shown. This band runs over a driving roller 56 and thus catches the package 57, which has just been raised up by the arrangements, described above, when this package is leaving the contact with the band 48. For preventing that the package thereby, due to the resiliency of the creasing line between the proper sides of the package and the closing flaps, now being the lower ones, which is folded out perpendicularly, will move back into another position than the assumed vertical position, there is provided a guide rail 58 behind the package.

It is without essential importance to the invention, if the pair of bands 55 is driven or if the package drives these hands during its continued movement, the decisive thing being that, if driving force is fed to this pair of bands, then it must be connected to the rollers 56 and so on by means of slip couplings, and also adapted in such a way that the package would, Without any other aid, be brought forward through the slot between the two bands in the pair of bands 55 with a somewhat too low speed. The speed determining means is as a matter of fact here formed by a new chain conveyor with catchers 60. One will see from the figure, how the catcher 60, situated to the extreme right, has just caught a package 61.

For folding the lower closing flaps 13 and 15, so that they resume their vertical position, finally an inclined ruler 62 is arranged.

It will be evident from the above, that one has in this way been able to provide an equalization of all unevenesses that may occur in the row of packages 30, so that the packages will during their movement from the arrangement, now described, to the machine parts, which have to take care of the continuous treatment of the package, be in exactly directed position and at even distances, determined by the distances between the catchers 60.

The machine arrangements following hereafter do not form a part of the present invention and they should therefore require no detailed description. It may be enough in general words to mention what kind of a function they have to execute. Thus, the package shall first be re-sized into a form, rectangular in cross-section, thereafter its lower lining mouth 22 shall be re-sized into plane-closed form and heat-sealed, and finally the outer covering of the package shall be closed by the lower closing flaps corresponding to the short sides, for instance the closing. flap 15, first being folded inwardly into the level of the future package bottom, and thereafter the corresponding closing flaps, corresponding to the broad sides, for instance the closing flap 13, are folded above the already folded closing flaps and pasted to them. The package is thereafter brought over into an arrangement, in which the product to be packed is fed to the same, and thereafter the package is closed, possibly after evacuation, filling with gas or similar step, and is further transferred to machine arrangements which take care of the closing of the package at the upper end in the same way as already described with respect to its lower end.

By the direction, made by means of the above described arrangements according to the invention, the closing is guaranteed to be absolutely good, as the package is not entering into the folding-up and closing producing means in an inclined position, in which these means would attack the package in a wrong position.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for aligning in a plane a series of collapsed packages each having a flap joining the main body of the package along a crease line in the package, comprising conveyor means for moving the series of packages in continuous succession along the plane in a predetermined direction, first guide means movable in said direction with the conveyor means and mounted to engage the flap of each package, said first guide means defining a first guide surface extending parallel to the plane and adjacent thereto in said direction, and second guide means movable in said direction with the conveyor means and mounted to engage the main body of each package, said second guide means defining a second guide surface extending transverse the plane in such angular disposition relative to the plane as a pivot the main body of each package about the crease line and away fromthe plane, and in such angular disposition relative to said direction as to move each package normal to said direction until the main body makes contact with said first guide surface to align the package with the others.

2. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said first guide means includes a pair of endless belts and means for moving the belts in said direction in spaced parallel relationship adjacent the conveyor means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the belts are arranged to move parallel to the plane and define a slot between them adapted to engage the flap of each package, said first guide surface being formed at one peripheral portion of the slot.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said second guide means includes an endless belt and means for moving the belt in said direction adjacent the conveyor means.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the belt is arranged to move at an acute angle with the plane and defines said second guide surface.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the belt is arranged to move at an angle of approximately 15 degrees with the plane.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said conveyor means includes an endless belt and means for moving the belt along the plane in said direction.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising means for uniformly spacing the packages one from another.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said spacing means includes an endless belt movable in said direction and uniformly spaced catcher means mounted there on to engage each package.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising means for aligning the flap of each package with the main bolily thereof after the package has been aligned with the ot ers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,616,341 Ahlmeyer et a1 Nov. 4, 1952 2,769,376 Chidsey et a1 Nov. 6, 1956 2,896,517 Labombarde July 28, 1959 

